5 Spices, 50 DishesSimple Indian Recipes Using Five Common Spices

The premise is simple: with five common spices and a few basic ingredients, home cooks can create fifty mouthwatering Indian dishes, as diverse as they are delicious.

Cooking teacher Ruta Kahate has chosen easy-to-find spices—coriander, cumin, mustard, cayenne pepper, and turmeric—to create authentic, accessible Indian dishes everyone will love. Roasted Lamb with Burnt Onions uses just two spices and three steps resulting in a meltingly tender roast. Steamed Cauliflower with a Spicy Tomato Sauce and Curried Mushrooms and Peas share the same three spices, but each tastes completely different.

Suggested menus offer inspiration for entire Indian dinners, though it's perfectly all right to mix Anglo-Indian Beef with a green salad and French bread—they will be perfect together. For quick and easy Indian meals, there's nothing more satisfying than 5 Spices, 50 Dishes.

About the Author

Ruta Kahate teaches regional Indian cooking from her home-based school in Oakland, California, which has been featured on the Fine Living Network.

Susie Cushner is a Boston-based photographer whose work can be found in many cookbooks, including Martha's Vineyard Table and The New England Table.